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In an effort to see some cult films that have passed me by over the years, I rented "Evil Dead" from the local Bbuster. Seeing how the film has nothing but fans I wanted to check it out. Here are my thoughts, for what they are worth.

It has effective moments, but it isn't consistently scary. Some of the creepier bits:

the tracking shots through the forest
The bit with the clock where she ends up drawing the book
Ash in the basement looking for Scotty
When Ash's girl friend is all possessed, sitting on the floor giggling at him.

It is over the top gory, and I have a strong suspicion this is the reason it has so many ardent followers. I can admire the movie for what it accomplishes on an obviously shoestring budget, but it just doesn't provide the sense of dread, or the ability to make my heart race, that a good horror movie should.

I don't know about everyone else, but I liked the Evil Dead series for it's comedy. The first one is not real big in that department, but the second in the series is, I think, the best. The stuff about his evil hand, the stuff about his girlfriend and talking to himself, and when he has the cabin literally laughing at him with everything it's got. I never really thought of Evil Dead as pure horror.

To answer your question, the first Evil Dead is the weakest of the series.

Evil Dead 2 and Evil Dead 3, Army of Darkness are classics due to their "campyness" (is that even a word). Evil dead 1 is more of the straight horror film, that of it's time (and budget) was pretty good. The goryness is also a bit campy, and a hit of what is to come in 2 and 3. You should definatly watch 2 and AOD. If you "get it" they are funny and entertaining, if you don't and think of them just as horror films, they'll be crap.

Df Lands Army Of Darkness License

Dynamic Forces has announced that it has acquired the license for the rights to produce merchandise based on Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness, the third film of the director’s Evil Dead trilogy. Along with the usual merchandise suspects, DF has indicated to Newsarama that comics will be included.

Army of Darkness was adapted into comic book form by Dark Horse in 1993, as a three-issue miniseries illustrated by John Bolton. According to sources, that particular miniseries isn’t on the immediate agenda of being collected due to a rights split between MGM and DH, although Dynamic Forces is looking into ways of making a hardcover collection of the miniseries happen, if at all possible.

That said, Dynamic Forces has told Newsarama that it will be actively seeking to make new comic projects based on Army of Darkness, and is looking into the breadth the license allows in material. The film starred Bruce Campbell as Ash -- the gun-toting, chainsaw-handed hero thrown back in time after fighting evil forces connected to the Necronomicon -- the Book of the Dead. The film featured well, armies of the dead, as well as mini-Ashes and Ash’s clone, Evil Ash.

Most recently, McFarlane has produced action figures based on the property.

“Sam Raimi has been making great movies for years, and now has certainly become a household name with Spider-Man,” said Nick Barrucci, President of Dynamic Forces in a press release. “But for those that know his incredible work from the Evil Dead movies, and particularly Army of Darkness, they’re in for a real treat with what we have planned for Ash in 2004! And we’re going to bring some new fans with us to the party as well”

(What the heck is a "giclee"? Well, the word is French and it means "to squirt or spray ink." Most commercial giclees spray thousands of microscopic dots onto the paper, resulting in an image that is hard to discern from original works. And now you know.)